West Laurel man charged with murdering wife, stepdaughter

Police say Ronnie Lee Rainey faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The victims died in this Laurel home on Malcolm Drive. (WTOP/Kristi King)

UPDATED: Tuesday – 5/14/2013, 4:20pm ET

WASHINGTON – A West Laurel man accused of shooting his wife and stepdaughter faces new charges.

Prince George’s County police say that Ronnie Rainey, 59, is facing two counts of first-degree assault in addition to the two counts of first-degree murder.

Police said previously that he was charged with one count of attempted murder for shooting at his teenage son.

Rainey is being held in jail without bail.

Investigators also said that Rainey “admitted his involvement” in the deaths of his wife, Lisa Renee Rainey, and step-daughter, Ariale Chantre Shelton.

EARLIER: Tuesday – 5/14/2013, 10:52am ET

LAUREL, Md. – A West Laurel man killed his wife and stepdaughter Monday morning and is now facing murder charges for their deaths, Prince George’s County police say.

Police say that Ronnie L. Rainey, 59, called 911 about 10 a.m. Monday and said that he’d killed his family and was about to kill himself.

SWAT officers arrived at the Rainey home, in the 16100 block of Malcolm Drive, and police briefly negotiated with Rainey before he surrendered and was taken into custody.

Rainey faces charges of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his wife and stepdaughter and one count of attempted murder for shooting at his son.

Investigators found the bodies of two women shot dead in the house. The women were later identified as Rainey’s wife, Lisa Renee Rainey, 50, and daughter Ariale Chantre Shelton, 27, who both lived in the home with Ronnie Rainey.

Rainey also fired at his teenage son, who was not injured. Another man was in the home but was not injured. Both cooperated with investigators, police say.

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Prince George’s County police responded to a shooting in the 16100 block of Malcolm Drive, in Laurel. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)

Police had not been called to the house for trouble before, officials say.

“She was an awesome friend,” says Debbie Lee, who describes herself as best friends with Lisa Rainey. “She was a beautiful girl.”

Lee called Ronnie Rainey a coward.

“It’s just senseless,” she says. “It doesn’t have to happen.”

The Washington Post reports that the couple had each spent 20 years in the Army as medics, and that Lisa Rainey had won several awards.